WAITE PARK — Dennis and Bernie Schiffler have spent the the better part of 40 years in Waite Park.

During that time they, along with their now-grown children, sat curbside through dozens of renditions of the annual Waite Park parade. On Saturday, however, the duo upgraded from ground seating to a luxury suite atop a convertible as the grand marshals of the event.

"I think it's a great honor to represent our community as grand marshals," Bernie Schiffler said.

To commemorate the occasion, a group consisting of the Schiffler children — the Schifflers have four children and eight grandchildren — along with friends and other family members gathered at the corner of First street and Ninth Avenue, the family's favorite spot to post up for the parade.

"Our kids are all at the same end of the street that (they used to live near)," Bernie Schiffler said. "It's fun to have all the kids here."

The Schifflers were one of many families who decided to join in on the festivities Saturday. A stormy start didn't deter a few hundred parade diehards from coming out to the annual event.

A stormy start didn’t deter a few hundred parade diehards from coming out to the annual Waite Park Family Fun Fest parade Saturday morning.
St. Cloud Times

The crowd was noticeably more sparse than usual, but the people who stayed were treated to a hour-long spectacle filled with music, a variety of entrants and of course, candy. The event was held as part of Waite Park's annual Family Fun Fest, which is in it's 50th year.

The weekend included a car show and golf tournament on Friday along with the parade and music in the park Saturday. Besides those activities the celebration provided multiple outlets for fun to people of all ages.

"This is our 50th (anniversary) of the celebration, we've been working for about two years on this," Ken Schmitt, festival president, said.

Which means that a little, or even a lot, of rain wasn't about to shut the event down, Schmitt said. He said that

"We've had it be very cold and wet at times but the nice thing is that there are still hundreds of people who come out," Schmitt said.

In Sartell, which had a parade scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday morning as part of its SummerFest celebration, cancellation was the option they took.

Wayne Matvick of Milaca said he was watching the weather forecast carefully Saturday. Matvick had a teeange son performing with the Milaca marching band and two more children — nine-year-old Brennan and six-year-old Mickie — at his side. The weather wasn't perfect but Matvick said he didn't mind because he still got to spend time with his family.

"I used to work out of state in the summer so this is my first summer back in four years, " he said. "It's very nice to see what's around."

Coming to the Waite Park parade proved to be a good call for nine-year-old Haley Klingenberger. Within the first 15 minutes, the St. Cloud native had a plastic grocery bag that was half full of treats. It was the first time Klingenberger and her father Gene had come to the parade, they said.

While it was nice to see that the rain let up before the event's start, both agreed that it probably wouldn't have mattered much to them anyway.

"Rain or shine, we probably would have come out here today," Gene Klingenberger said.

Daily poll

Would you go to your hometown parade in the rain? Place your vote here. See results on Monday's Opinion page. The Daily Poll is nonscientific.

Follow Ben Katzner on Twitter @BigKat0.

Buy Photo

The Sauk Rapids-Rice High School marching band performed during the Waite Park Family Fun Fest parade Saturday, June 14. Jason Wachter, jwachter@stcloudt

Stephen and Sarah Kuklok, Sauk Rapids, enjoy the parade with their daughters Brea, 21-months, and Zoey, 3, along the route of the Waite Park Family Fun Fest parade. Jason Wachter, jwachter@stcloudtimes.com